As the popularity of barbecue grills have grown, grill manufacturers have sought to introduce new grill products to sustain consumer interest. Recently, manufacturers have introduced compact barbecue grills. Compact grills can employ either a gas burner element or solid fuel to cook to food placed on a cooking surface of the grill. In comparison to traditional upright barbecue grills, compact grills have a smaller configuration. The smaller configuration is typically achieved by reducing the overall height of the cooking chamber, which includes the cover and the firebox. In addition, manufacturers reduce the size and complexity of the frame assembly or the cart assembly supporting the cooking chamber. Due to their reduced configuration, compact barbecue grills are marketed as having increased portability such that the grill can be operated in more than one location and transported between locations.
Conventional compact barbecue grill assemblies, including the frame assemblies suffer from a number of limitations. Among the many limitations of the grill assemblies, most perform poorly in the process of cooking food. Others are too large and cumbersome for a single user to transport between locations. Still others are constructed from inferior materials causing the grill assembly to rapidly deteriorate. A substantial number of grill assemblies lack sufficient handle structures that can be used to transport the grill. With respect to the limitations of the frame assemblies, most are difficult to operate such that erecting and/or collapsing the frame assembly is quite difficult. Furthermore, when erect, the frame assemblies provide insufficient support for the cooking chamber such that the grill assembly lacks stability. When collapsed, the frame assemblies are unwieldy thereby rendering the grill assembly virtually impossible to transport between locations. In addition, numerous conventional frame assemblies lack wheels which further inhibits the transport of the grill assembly, in either the erect or the collapsed positions.
An example of a barbecue grill assembly suffering from the above limitations is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,231 to Hamilton et al. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the grill 20 assembly has a firebox 21 supported by a frame assembly having a plurality of generally vertical legs 29 that extend through openings 26a in the corners of the firebox 21. The legs 29 are adapted to be collapsed such that the grill assembly 20 is capable of transport by the operator (see FIG. 9). To collapse the legs 29, a door 26 operably connected to a bottom portion of the firebox 21 is opened to reveal a cavity of the firebox 21. The legs 29 pivot about pins 30 and into the cavity of the firebox 21. The side shelves 22, 23 are then rotated into contact with an upper portion of the firebox 21 thereby causing the grill assembly 20 to have a compact rectangular configuration (see FIG. 9). An operator can then grasp a handle extending from a side wall of the firebox 21 to transport the grill assembly 20. The grill assembly 20 lacks a cart assembly or wheels or any other structure to aid its transport when the legs 29 are collapsed or its repositioning when the legs 29 are erect.
Another barbecue grill assembly having the limitations detailed above is shown in U.S. Publication No. 2002/0020405 to Coleman et al. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the grill assembly 10 includes a cooking chamber 12 defined by a hood 22 connected to a firebox 20. The cooking chamber 12 is removably mounted on a frame member 14 of the collapsible frame assembly 16. The frame assembly 16 includes a plurality of legs 38 and feet 42 adapted to increase the stability of the grill assembly 12. To move the grill assembly 10 from the erect position to the collapsed position of FIGS. 5 and 6, the knobs 35 are rotated to loosen and collapse the legs 38. In the collapsed position, the cooking chamber 12 is stacked on the leg assembly 16. In either the erect or collapsed position, the grill assembly 10 must be carried for transport or repositioning because the frame assembly 16 lacks a cart assembly or wheels.
Therefore, there is a definite need for a barbecue grill cart assembly having a collapsible cart assembly wherein the cart assembly provides support and stability to the grill assembly in both an erect position and a collapsed position, wherein the cart assembly is easy to operate, and wherein the cart assembly allows for transport or repositioning in either position. The present invention is provided to solve these and other problems.